delightfully wild
by a n a l i s e e
Summary: Unlike her sister, Amberine Swan is an unconventionally optimistic sunshine peeking through the dreary canopy that is Forks. With all the knowledge about Twilight books and Bella's possible fate, she is intent on making the lives of those around her easier. But intriguing someone she least expected to acknowledge her? Surely, that wasn't included in her 'to do' list... Ed/OC
1. Preface

**synopsis**

In which a reincarnated cheeky teenager messes up the canon plot.

 **disclaimer**

Twilight and all the all the recognizable characters in it belongs to Stephanie Meyer. I own nothing but my OC and the plot.

This story will be a re-write of Twilight saga with my OC who would have the complete knowledge of the Twilight books and the events that are bound to unfold in future. Although Amber will be from another dimension, she'll be reborn as Bella Swan's younger sister. I didn't want her to completely replace Bella as that would be too common and from this way, the story will be more interesting. Edward won't be able to read both, Bella and Amber's mind. Similar canon, Bella would be Edward's singer.

Amber would differ from Bella in regards of both personality and look.

Though Edward will be attracted to Bella first - like in book, for some obvious reasons we all know cough*her blood*cough, he would later be interested in Amber - who would be a mystery to him, but in a different way than Bella. Whereas Bella's blocked mind and addictive smelling blood lured him him, there would be much many things in Amber that'll intrigue him.

Amber will change majority of the canon plot. She'll definitely bring sunshine and sense into the characters in the gloomy town of Forks and be of help to others.

To clarify, Charlie and Renee divorced when Amber was five and Bella was six, something different from the original plot.

Hope you like this story.

* * *

 _ **Him?** _

_He is all_ _shades of black and white and grey._

 _To complete him, Bella, you don't give him your soul,_

 _you try to give him **colors.**_

* * *

 **preface**

 **x**

Have you ever wished to be a part of any fictional world? Or ever desired to relive the moments of the very same fiction whilst getting involved with the main characters?

The _ridiculousness_ of these questions is blatant.

Of course you have. It comes as a part of being a reader, a fan, _devoted_ follower.

To clarify, even though I am a book worm at heart, I neither wished nor desired to be a part of any fictional world from any books, especially not _Twilight._ Oh yes, you read it right. Being stuck into Harry Potter would have been much better, that would've been a privilege, even as a _mere_ muggle. But Twilight?

I mean, what was the purpose of being shoved into this fictional world? But at least one positive thing came out of this reincarnation mess, a family.

Not only was I finally bestowed with a family to call my own, but along with them, I got so much more that I ever bargained and was prepared for.

Call it the possible gods above blessing you with extreme luck, or just... whatever that floats your boat.

* * *

Ellis had been an orphan from the birth. Her entire childhood was spent in an orphanage that was well off than many.

Her younger years were mostly spent in bitterness. Bitterness over the fact that she was unbeknownst about her parents. She didn't know anything about them, not even the fact if they were still alive or not. If they were, then why would they abandon her in the first place? Did they not want her?

Ellis couldn't recall being mentally degraded, or physically disable or disfigured, so why would they choose to toss her aside? Was it because of any personal reasons?

Turns out, pondering over those thoughts unknowingly turned her childhood into grey, and morphed her into a wistful girl. As far as her memory served, because of the very reason Ellis had been a loner. She ignored other children, and they returned the favour. Even in the school, she wasn't bullied or anything, just simply ignored.

She guessed that's what made her an outcast.

But, could she be blamed? _No._

Loneliness took all the blame because that's what it did - it brought out the worst and dark in her.

Being a pessimist, Ellis knew that her death was going to be lonely and cold and inevitable. With so much regret and sadness concealed within her. Also with the crushed hopes of a better and fulfilling life. But she had not anticipated her death _that_ soon.

It was shocking for her to die in one place, and seconds after that, be reborn into another. But not as baffling as finding out about her new family. Her new, totally abnormal family.

And, no, she wasn't born into the species of animals - as laughable as that would've been.

But a family from a whole different dimension and a whole new time.

 _"Helen?"_

"We are not naming our daughter after your mother."

"But we did the same for Bella. We named her after _your_ mother."

Uncomfortable in her new body, Ellis tried to pry her eyes open, but to no avail, it turned out painful than she expected. She settled with a whimper - which her possible mother took as other reaction.

"That was different, she took it as he middle name. Even our baby doesn't agree."

"Then you decide," came an equally frustrated, yet amused response from the man who was her presumed father.

"How about something like," her mother began gleefully. "Like, Amber... or Amberine!"

"That's actually a good one," Ellis - now officially named Amberine - could hear the satisfaction in her new father's tone. "What about the middle name?"

 _"Helen,"_ her mother giggled. "Amberine Helen Swan."

Something tugged at the corner of her mind, but she ignored the itchy feeling, probably considering the familiarity of her last name as mere coincidence.

At the very moment, the only thing swirling around her mind was astonishment, and excitement.

That was before she actually found out about the screwed up situation she had been shoved into.

She had not been reborn into a normal world, or family, but actually in the world of fictional supernatural book series called Twilight saga.

Not to mention she had all memories from past life still intact with her. Amber deemed it to be more of a curse than blessing. To be stuck in a crappy supernatural world where vampire fairies and unicorns ran around. It wasn't fun okay.

In her past life, Twilight had been one of the many books that she had the chance to read. Back then, reading had been her only passion, obsession and solace. The workers in orphanage wouldn't forget to keep her stocked with book of all sorts, each one worn out and passed down from others. The workers probably thought that it was the least they could do for the poor little girl since books were the only thing that could draw out any positive response from her.

She was sixteen when her interest first fell on the book. As the book progressed, she found it to be bloody horrendous.

It wasn't much interesting as it had no specific direction or meaning. It centered around a teenage girl and a century year old vampire falling in love, followed by the so called deadly consequences they faced. The main character, Bella Swan was a backboneless heroine salivating over a control freak bunny eater. Their love story wasn't epic or anything remotely close to many swooning fans' labelling.

The love they shared revolved around obsession and infatuation. For Edward, it was the obsession for Bella's blood, and as for Bella, it was about the infatuation for inhuman beauty. Amber honestly lost the count of times Bella had drooled disgustingly over his physical appearance. She would rather choke herself than again go through the torture that were the lines in which Bella Swan dreamily described Edward's beauty like she was some poet reciting their masterpiece of a poem.

Yes, truly bloody horrendous.

Despite her dislike for them, Amber had continued the series only because of the rest of the characters.

She didn't have any problems with others; the humans, vampires, wolves. Not even the Volturi. They were actually quite interesting. Sure they came off as some power craving bad guys on immortal crack, but also the only vampires keeping an eye on their kind to make sure that others were tamed enough to never expose their kind, or act recklessly around humans. No matter how much evil the book portrayed them to be, Amber couldn't imagine what it would have been if the Volturi didn't exist.

One thing would be for certain, the other vampires would simply go nuts, freely roaming around killing and feeding on humans without a care or restriction from anyone.

So no, even the most evil weren't the ones getting on her nerves. Only Bella and Edward had the tendency to do that. Imagine her shock when one of them turned out to be her family member in her new life.

She was miraculously reborn as the youngest daughter of Charlie and Renee Swan. Just an year younger than her older sister Isabella, or Bella, as she preferred to call herself. Just like she like the shortened version, Amber, instead of Amberine which was too mouthful for her liking.

At first, Amber believed this entire reincarnation thing to be a curse.

That was until she found out the wonders of having a real family. Her mother, usually childlike and flighty, would shower Amber with affection since it was in her bubbly nature, like her dad, who she found out was actually cool. Her parent's parentage probably being a result of them still being in their teen years.

She was the youngest child in the family and honestly, it was flattering and touching to get all the attention. And being reborn as Bella's baby sister, her views gradually started to change for good about her new sister.

Amber had often imagined that she would grow up disliking her older sister and holding grudges against her simply because of her personality. But as time flowed by, Bella turned out to be an unexpected friend and an older sister for her to rely on. Slowly but surely, Amber learned to overlook Bella's flaws and mistakes, and even her personality. She instead indulged in a comfortable relationship with her sister.

Their affection influenced heavily on Amber's new personality. She had began her new life as a cheery child. For five years ever since she was born, she got enough to be satisfied with. To say that she was shocked when her parents divorced when she was the age of five, would be an understatement. Amber knew that, in the books - the canon world - they were supposed to divorce when Bella was three months old, but they didn't. This had led her to stupidly believe that her parents were not going to separate, at all.

But boy was she dead wrong... After the divorce, when she moved to Arizona along with her mother and sister, Amber had an easy time fitting in with other people around her physical age simply because her new personality was entirely contrasting towards her previous life one. Charisma came naturally to her, and she was physically qualified enough to be labelled as a cute kid.

Being mentally older than her most peers of the same physical age, Amber thought it was cool to be smarter than the rest. She didn't make an extreme show of her hidden intelligence, not intent on making anyone suspicious, especially not her mom.

Her mom could be callow at times, but she was observant enough. Especially being a Kindergarten teacher, she was bound to notice the differences between average children and her own daughter. Even if Amber had been careful, that didn't mean she needed to act downright inadequate. Her grades were still brilliant, and her participation and contribtion in their school's extra curricular activities was almost constant. She had even tried at sports, but failed miserably as she had her uncountable moments of clumsy accidents similar to Bella.

The two sisters had very clashing personalities. Whereas Amber was extroverted and liked socializing, Bella was the exact definition of a wallflower. Their togetherness did not influence their characters like the blonde hoped. From the very start, Amber had wanted to bring her anti-social sister out of her hard shell, she knew what it felt like to be a social pariah and unaccepted. Their mother had been encouraging, supportive, but the task turned out nearly impossible.

Bella considered herself the only mature one in the house with the duty to take care of her mother and sister. Amber didn't object though, knowing that her sister wasn't going to listen to her at any cost. It was funny, being supervised by someone mentally younger than her. Annoying at times, too, when Bella made decisions for her.

For several reasons, she was grateful that she didn't grew up to be like Bella. She had already been that girl in her past life and she didn't think she could handle being Ellis any time soon in that very century.

The only thing Amber and Ellis had in common was their physical appearance that had not altered in the reincarnation process.

Her appearance was nothing special. Whereas her family members had inherited the same dark hair and dark eyes, Amber was more of a fair beauty. She would claim herself cute enough, but not that astoundingly gorgeous like those golden models from renown summer magazines, or those _unearthly vampires._ She was average looking.

Her family often made comments about how she reeked of Summer, with sun bleached hair, pristine eyes that was a reflection of blue sky in early morning, her body drenched in the smell of crisp Summer wind and sun block lotion.

Her eyes were too wide, yet always half hidden by her thick choppy bangs, her nose was a button one and rest of her facial features were actually plain. Her lips were plump, naturally tinted with pink hue. Her hair teetered on edge of golden, and auburn. It was the only feature she could deem special in comparison to the rest, even though she sometimes wanted to rip out her thick mane.

Her pale skin tone was one of the rare common features she shared with her family. Though presently, her mother's previous pale skin had been layered by tan as a result of generously soaking up the ruthless Phoenix sun, and Bella's skin was just a little more rosy than hers as her face was constantly tinted with a blush.

She sometimes wondered whether her parents suspected the possibilty of their actual baby being replaced with her since the hereditary resemblance was uncanny. Her and Bella had always made jokes and unbelievable assumptions about that.

She wasn't too much skinny or overweight. Amber had the same built as her sister, though their sense of dressing were individually discrete.

Whereas Bella had no qualms about what she wore and often settled with jeans, plain tops and anything comfortable, Amber made sure to dress good. Her style was much more feminine compared to her sister's. But not feminine enough to personify a Barbie.

She was also used to personalizing her own clothes to her satisfaction. She liked how it was cheaper than actually shopping for branded, beautiful clothes that costed more than she could afford. She was hesitant when it came to wasting away the extra money she earned from small jobs her and Bella did. She only spend sufficient amount to cover up necessary expenses.

When she became vaguely aware that the expenses of the trio was causing a financial strain, she had applied for a scholarship in her seventh grade. It was difficult for their mom, a single woman, to support her two young daughters and herself.

Amber knew she was academically competent and intelligent. Her high GPA, and her extra help in school had contributed into successfully landing her with a much needed scholarship. Her mother had been happy, and her sister too if you don't cound the little envy. Amber could understand where Bella was coming from with the jealousy over her younger sister's achievement.

Their financial condition gradually started to be steady after her scholarship. Her and Bella did small jobs together, like helping in the neighbourhood, especially with babysitting and tutoring. The money wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. And especially when Phil Dawer barged into their lives that it began improving.

He was the new boyfriend of their mom, younger than her, but it didn't matter as they made eachother happy. He insisted on helping them, even if they refused. They were relucant, but Phil was extremely stubborn, and ended up pursuing their mom.

For Amber, it still felt uneasy to partially rely on someone as good as a stranger, but things got comfortable when Phil started showing actual eagerness about being a part of their family.

She couldn't have been more happier when she found out about her mom's and Phil's engagement. It was inevitable, as they had dated for years and could endure eachother perfectly well and partially because it was fated to happen in the book. But the blonde was also saddened, knowing her dad would be heartbroken. Despite years of separation, he still had unresolved feelings for her mom lingering somewhere.

Amber also knew that the inevitable was approaching soon. Too soon for her liking.

Forks and all the supernatural crap.

Bella openly detested Forks, Amber didn't. Even though the constantly freezing weather sometimes gifted her with frequent common colds and minor sickness, she loved the town. It was no secret how much she preferred the rainy small town to Cali.

When Bella turned thirteen, she had practically forced her to stop with the Forks visits they did every summer. She of course, bluntly refused Bella and continued. Since their dad wanted to spend time with both of them, he made a routine to spend every two weeks of summer in sunny Arizona. And since Amber loved Forks too much, she would then spend rest of the holiday with her dad in Forks.

This time, their stay was going to be much longer.

The blonde teen was delighted and frightened at the same time. Primarily worried about her sister's potential future which included supernatural creatures. Ever since she had figured out about being stuck into this paper world, Amber had vehemently anticipated this.

A protective part of her wanted to lock Bella away somewhere far away where the name of Edward Cullen couldn't even reach her ears, but another caring part of her wanted her sister's happiness more than anything, even if it laid with the very same douchebag. But she knew that her internal debate was useless.

Bella and Edward were soul mates, she couldn't keep them apart even if she tried to, but she could use precautions on keeping Bella safe in Forks from the knowledge she had acquired from reading all the Twilight books. For instance, Amberine could easily stop the baseball incident from happening which would prevent James from finding out about Bella or hunting her down.

Also, she could avoid the paper cut accident on Bella's eighteenth birthday party from happening too, and save her sister from a lot of heart break over the months that would follow after Edward leaving her. And poor Jacob wouldn't be led on or have his werewolf-y heart broken.

Amber believed that from that way, there would be least chances of the Volturi being aware of Bella and her knowledge about the existence of vampires. And if the James incident wouldn't happen, then she was pretty freaking sure about Victoria not coming back seeking revenge on the love birds with her mini New born army. Oh, and Laurent won't be ripped to pieces and burned by the wolves.

Why did she care? Please, she wasn't slightest bit worried about Laurent's wellbeing. She only wanted the Denali girl to be less of a bitch to Bella and the pack if precious Laurent wouldn't burn into ashes.

The plan sounded perfect. No, more than that. With her knowledge, Amber could prevent those horrible events from ever happening and save everyones' asses from all the trouble and unnecessary drama that was destined to take place... All she needed to do, was manipulations and a lot of scheming.

Maybe. Just maybe, that's what the vampires, werewolves, and humans in Forks needed too?

A little enlightening guidance from Amberine Swan.

* * *

 **[ REVISED ]**

Okay, so I did a major revising of this chapter, not only with grammatical mistakes, or words but with the facts too. Instead of making Amber too perfect and Mary Sue-ish with her having a goddess complex, I tried to make her seem like a normal teenager. I changed the overly pretty, popular, sporty Amber into the just slightly pretty, friendly and a little clumsy Amber as you've seen above. I also added some facts.

I remember when I first wrote the previous preface, those were dark days. This revised one is tons less cringeworthy than the previous one.

As of the people who had actually made through the previous versions, congratulations. You are one courageous human.

 **stay gold,**

 **ana.**


	2. Chapter 1 FIRST SIGHT

You have to be careful who you meet, you can't unmeet them.

-Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

* * *

 **1 |**

 **first** **sight**

 **x**

"So is your _mourning_ session finished yet?" I peeked my head through the ajar door, sighing when I saw the mess. "Oh, still grieving I see..."

Aware of my lovely presence, Bella hastily wiped her tears, and almost dramatically faced me, not before quickly plastering a big, visibly fake smile on her lips.

 _Seriously?_ Why would she bother putting up this _I'_ _m-so-selfless-that-I-deserve-an-award_ facade in front of me knowing that I understood her more than anyone else ever did? Her personality never failed to bug me.

Why can't she act like some normal angst ridden teenager openly bitching about her ever so obvious problems and this town? Was it such a hard concept to grasp?

Oh right, because she was Bella Swan and the word _normal_ didn't exist in her _life_ dictionary.

"What do you mean Amber? Why should I be mourning?" Bella asked in fake oblivion. Her acting skills were miserable if you ask me, anyone with a pair of eyes could hint on that.

"Playing dumb Bella? And I thought I was the blonde one here," I grinned cheekily as I saw her frustrated face. My sister sighed dejectedly, her face slipping from the indifferent mask and contorting into various emotions, the sadness being constant.

Gee, sometimes she made me want to deck her, sister or not.

Scoffing, I crossed my arms in front of my chest and looked around the small room, bored. I noted that the room wasn't messy like mine. Infact, in a matter of some hours, Bella had already unpacked everything unlike lazy 'ole me who was too tired from the plane ride to do anything.

 _Not that_ _I_ _did something tiring in plane other than sitting down, but well, still._

We'd just arrived a few hours ago and the plane sickness hasn't substituted even a bit. I loved travelling but my body didn't as it never seemed to adapt foreign places. Hopefully, I'll eventually get used of the coldness and moisture here in Forks.

An hour ago, I had come here to ask Bella to lend a hand and help me unpack. But before I could, I had spotted her sprawled on her bed, sobbing quietly. Her chocolate brown eyes were still stained and puffy as an ugly aftermath of shedding oceans worth of tears. I had left her be, trying to be respectful and give her needed space. When I was back, much to my annoyance she was still crying. Didn't she realize how much self-destructive it was?

In spite of my thoughts, I smiled softly at Bella, who looked every inch of worn out.

"Sharing will help Bella. You know, your never ending problems and all," I waved a hand in the air, rolling my eyes a little.

Bella reluctantly nodded, patting the empty space beside her on her bed, proposing me to sit. I skimmed towards her quickly, and plopped down on the soft mattress. Oh god, I can't wait to unpack soon and wander off to my dream land.

"So, what's the real deal here? What made you go on a crying spree?" I inquired, though I already knew the answer.

Bella licked her dry lips before speaking up with a croaked voice. "Moving to Forks. You know how hard it has been, after everything. But mom will be happy. That's all that matters right? My happiness is worth sacrificing for hers. Don't you think?"

 _Sacrificing?_ that's what she calls it?

Yes, me too I was upset and gloomy at the prospect of leaving behind our harebrained, erratic, childish and loving mother but that didn't mean it was the end of my life.

 _Oh please,_ we weren't _doomed_ just because we came in this town. So what if we had to let go of our mother? We still had our dad who loved us just as much as she did - despite him never actually making a huge show out of it.

"Just try Bella," I spoke up nonchalantly and inspected the nails of my left hand. I needed to get rid of that tacky and emo-ish red and black nailpaint soon. I was actually surprised at the ugliness that shone on my hand.

"Try _what?"_ Bella asked as if she had no flipping clue about what I was implying.

I would be confused too if I were her too since half of the time, I actually didn't have any idea of the righteous crap that came out of my mouth.

"Try to make an effort," I shrugged. "Will it hurt to at least try to imagine your life here without the words exiled, caged, suffocating and blah blah blah horrible words linked to it? Can't you just try or will it actually choke you to? Like, seriously... you're acting like a spoiled child who just got her precious candy taken away."

I didn't care if I was hurting her by not taking her side and sugercoating this situation. Bluntly putting, Bella needed to hear all this and get it into her thick head. She was stubborn but that was nothing compared to me. I had stormy temper too, one that often led to worse consequences. Because of that, I had to make sure I never unleashed that side of mine but a at the moment, Bella did deserve a little harsh reality check.

Dad was clearly making effort. Yes, he was nervous and just as awkward as Bella at the fact that his two teenager daughters were now residing under the same roof as him but still, he was at least trying. And looking at Bella, she was doing nothing but crying her sorrows out and throwing a pity party.

Yes she had her own reasons but claiming herself to be mature and acting like a child was beyond annoying.

My sister gave me a baffled look.

"Amber, you don't understand tha-"

"That you made yourself a virgin for sacrifice for our mother's happiness? It's simple and I think I can pretty much understand it."

Christ, it came out more harsher than I intended, but well... meh.

Bella shook her head. I really didn't know what she was actually denying.

"Don't you feel that way too?"

"No," I eyed her with a hard frown.

"My feeling about this situation is quite neutral, Bella. And that shouldn't be surprising considering how I don't care if I live either with mom or dad, they both are my parents, and I love them equally."

And just like that, Bella's eyes hardened.

"Oh now I get what you're implying. It's pretty clear that you think I don't love them both, equally right?" Bella snapped with a defensive tone and fuming face. Wow, she really does know to jump to conclusions. Her eyes widened a little, some realization passing through them before she started lashing out. "Yes, you actually don't understand because this is exactly what you wanted right? You're happy that you got to live here, in Forks, with dad."

Her accusations made me wince. Okay, I admit of her being partially right. I would definitely miss mom and my friends from back home but I rather preferred Forks, rain and coldness over Arizona, humidity and heat, unlike Bella.

Back in there, I could never stay out for a few hours without transforming into a ripe tomato on verge of exploding. Still, residing back there, I wasn't acting like some depressed scornful teen. I made sure to fit in with people there without sadness or grief or any _my-life-is-ruined_ thoughts plaguing me after every few seconds and had accepted the place, despite my blatant dislike. Can't Bella be like that too? A little more accepting?

I smiled a little, the smile fuelled with full sarcasm. "Of course I'm happy here. But, wasn't I happy back there in Arizona too? Or was I actually drowning myself in self-pity?"

Now that shut her up good. I knew I hit a nerve. Bella opened and closed her mouth for a few times, trying to come up with a reply. When she failed to do so, she sealed her lips shut.

 _Yay, point for Amber._

"All this was possible because I tried, Bella."

I laughed a little, totally not humorous situation but as I further gauged Bella's reaction, my humorous side made an approach. My naturally pale sister was turning quite red right now probably thinking that the words her little sister was telling, were in fact true.

I laughed again, softer and less mocking this time. With a warm smile, I wrapped my arms around her waist. My big sister inhaled sharply before wrapping her skinny arms around my form.

"Try Bella. Trying gets you everywhere, like flattery, only much harder but totally worth it," I mumbled. Yes, I was still angry because of the way she treated dad but at the end of the day, this girl was my sister, my too naive sister who was flawed and made mistakes because she was a human after all, she was inclined to be imperfect.

I felt Bella nod against my shoulder. Unwrapping from our hug, Bella smiled down at me. Finally! the first real smile she had since we arrived here.

"Thank you, that was a much needed encouragement. You do know to talk some sense into others."

What can I say... someone has to do that sooner or later. It's a good thing that it's me that is assigned to the task.

"Well, I try," I lightly joked. "Promise me you will try tomorrow."

"I _will."_

I beamed at the determination in her tone before I realized that I was tired as hell.

"Okay, now how about repaying? You see, I don't waste my calories for free."

"What?" Bella pulled back from the hug and grinned at me, her tone filled with a hint of surprise. I pouted a little and gave her my adorable pleading expression.

"How about you help your baby sister unpack. I mean _she_ isn't exactly that willing to do the task herself."

Bella merely raised an eyebrow but nodded notheless.

"Fine, _fine. God,_ you're so lazy sometimes."

"Yes!" grinning, I did a fist pump in the air of victory causing Bella to chuckle at my antics.

* * *

By the time we finished unpacking my stuff, it was already dark outside. Bella had been more than surprised when we started stuffing my closet with clothes. She was confused why I needed such a huge closet and the massive amount of clothing.

Hey, in my defence, unlike her, I actually appreciate clothes and the wonders they do to you.

At the very moment, I was lying on my bed and inspecting my, the one that hasn't changed an inch since the last time I was here. The wooden floor, the walls painted in my favourite color - light baby blue, the peaked ceiling, the white lace curtains around the window, the precious pictures taken of my family members together that hung on the wall. Dad made no changes ever in the room. Except that there was a mahogany desk. And my laptop - the one that I brought from the money I got from my part time job - placed on it and the rocking chair from my baby days was still in the corner, reminding me of the happy times and memories.

Beautiful memories at that.

It seems to me, every moment that passes is a beautiful memory worth capturing. I valued them more than anything and it scared me too much. What if one day, these memories gets snatched from me along with the people I loved? Life was unexpected, I got the lesson from my previous life and more than once these type of horrible thoughts and questions plagued my mind, and that was all the encouragement I needed to live life to the fullest without regrets unlike my sister who believed life to be more of a burden than anything.

Despite me denying to myself, I knew that Bella was somewhat my reflection from my previous life. She never felt the sense of belonging, anywhere, and had to constantly put others before her. I was like that too before. In my previous life, I had envied Bella, the fictional one who was so undeserving of all she got. Two hot boys trailing after her like lost puppies (others too but less important aka _humans._ It seemed, all Bella cared about, was supernatural), a loving family (the Cullens), people crowding around her in her new school and an eternally happy ending.

I wanted all those things too but Bella got it without much of an effort. That had been one of the reasons I had despised her previously. Jealousy was a funny emotion. But, now that after years of contemplation, I finally knew how much I was been wrong.

Bella was _me,_ the girl longing and starving for happiness and when she got it with a controlling vampire who declared to love her endlessly through everything, she fought until death to keep him with her, and in those times, she was completely consumed by the idea of endless love.

Yes, I still blamed her for not standing up for herself in various situations but she was naive, too naive and blinded by love to understand everything. More naive than I had been before. Not that that excused everything she did. But Edward, that hundred and four year old vampire should have been less of a controlling and creepy spoiled brat and no, I wasn't supporting Bella's actions because I'm her sister, but simply because I now knew her more than anyone else did. I could finally understand the reasonings behind her stupid actions in the book.

In my previous life, I had hated them both equally but now, Edward Cullen was the sole reason my hatred blossomed. I wasn't capable of much hate. I never really expressed that emotion unless people gave me a reason to. Maybe like how I'd grown attached to Bella, I would learn to tolerate Edward too, given a decade or two at most. But I definitely will.

With a heavy sigh, I tried to turn the train of my thoughts elsewhere.

Like the thing that was coming tomorrow morning, _school._

Forks High had a frightening total of only three hundred and fifty-seven, now fifty-nine-students, there were more than seven hundred people in my and Bella's junior class alone back home. All of the kids here had grown up together - their grandparents had been toddlers together.

Bella and I would be the new girls from the big city, a curiosity, puzzle pieces. I would be a mystery, and I wanted to keep it that way, never wanting them to unravel me. I liked it when things were kept hidden. Though I have always been a curious one in both of my lives, never had I forced others to lay their secrets open in front of me, neither have I been nose-y to pry into other people's business. If I wanted privacy, then I would have to respect others', and that's what I did.

But privacy with Edward Cullen looming over my thoughts tomorrow?

Nuh-uh.

That was one of the things that I wished never happened along with us ever meeting Edward Cullen. I hoped that Edward won't be able to read my mind like Bella's - which was quite impossible seeing as I was no shield like her. But who would love to have their mind molested right? I didn't want him to know anything personal, too personal that no one knew about me.

Like my reincarnation. And also, if he found out that I knew what type of 'creature' he and his family truly were, then I'm darn sure my funeral would knock on my door soon, too soon for my liking.

I just have to survive tomorrow. Any how. I was going to do anything to mask my thoughts, even if that meant thinking about inappropriate stuffs that would traumatize Edward enough from ever peeking inside my mind again.

I knew I would fit in very easily in this new school. Because of the book I had known how _welcoming_ they could be and also, there's an ability that I had developed in this life; I could relate to almost everyone. People of all ages and types, oppose to Bella who was anti-social right from the start. I have always been told that there was something in me that lured people in, and I noticed it too. People were unknowingly attracted to me.

Weird and flattering at the same time.

I just hoped that my _ability_ would work tomorrow.

Tomorrow, which will be the beginning of everything and especially for Bella, for whom tomorrow would be the beginning of her new life.

* * *

I slept like a baby that night, the constant whooshing of the rain and wind across the roof made me relaxed but I knew that Bella wasn't gonna get a good night's seep, for that I felt sorry for her. But I loved rain and was never really bothered by it. Thunderstorms though, were a complete different story. It was truly wonderful to fall into the clutches of sleep listening to the rain pouring outside after so long.

Thick fog was all I could see out my window in the morning, and I won't lie, it did felt claustrophobic, just like Bella had described in the book, like I was caged without any chance at escaping. I guess, it's just the feeling of nervousness creeping inside me.

 _Gee, first day jitters._

It took me a little longer than usual to get my outfit and look done. I wanted to look good today, and of course I had put up much more effort than every day. I specifically made sure not to dress too much flashy that would sabotage the first impression on my peers. After wasted minutes of serious contemplation, I went with my usual look, the simple yet feminine one.

I wore a Cashmere sweater - I owned a whole lot of them thanks to my wool obsession - which was cream colored, and pastel blue shaded jeans. I had never liked heels much, those painful killers hurted like hell. So I decided that a pair of black mid calf boots would finish off my look. My makeup wasn't much, considering I didn't like caking my plain face with artificial beauty. After some waterproof mascara and a tint of cherry lipgloss, I was done.

I let my untamable hair fall down in natural waves, taking a much needed moment to admire it. It had taken me years to grow it out to the length I was satifisfied with. Though sometimes it resembled a rat's nest, I still loved it.

Breakfast with dad was a quiet event until I started filling up the silence with unnessary babbling, with Bella and Dad adding a thing or two. Even though their relationship was strained, those two were so much alike. He then wished me and Bella good luck at school and we thanked him.

Their relationship was something I had to work on. It was one of my purpose to bring them closer and strengthen their bond no matter how long it took. Just a few more days and I would start working on that - including trillion of other things that needed to be pu into action.

Dad left first, off to the police station - he is Police Chief Swan to the good people of Forks. I'd always found it rather cool to have a Chief dad. That way, I could do anything without any restraint.

...

I was joking.

Bella and I were left to fend ourselves. Bella sat beside me and stared off at the kitchen, undoubtedly inspecting it, along with the house.

"What are you wondering about?" I inquired, stuffing my mouth with cereal.

Bella shrugged in response. "I'm nervous about today," I recalled the pity party from yesterday.

"Not _sad?"_

The brunette shot me an annoyed look. _"Surprisingly_ no. I am taking in your words from yesterday and well, _trying."_

 _Huh?_ Well, that's a freaking _progress._

It was just drizzling still, when we headed for the school but not enough to soak me through immediately and ruin my look and outfit. Bella was quick in her movements at avoiding the rain and I followed her.

Inside the truck, it was nice and dry. Dad had brought it as a homecoming gift for Bella. The beast was a red Chevy, nothing fancy and exactly Bella's type. Thank God she liked it. If she hadn't, then there would have been only two, horrible options left for us to get to school.

One, walking two miles to the school in the drenching rain and getting the predictable drowned rat look or two, accepting the ride in dad's cruiser and looking like two criminals arriving straight out of prison. Either way was disastrous.

It seems, finding the school wasn't difficult for Bella, thanks to her great sense of direction and well, the glorious map of course. The school was, like most other things, just off the highway. It was not obvious that it was a school; only the sign, which declared it to be the Forks High School. Like Bella described in the book, it looked like a collection of matching houses, built with maroon-colored bricks. There were so many trees and shrubs I couldn't see its size at first.

I was enthusiastic and literally bouncing on my seat. Bella obviously saw the bubbly look on my face because the next moment, she groaned out loud.

"What?" I asked innocently with a sweet mask guarding my face. Works every time, but only not with Bella. Call it her sister-power over me.

"How can you be so tolerant?" she asked, baffled. I snickered.

 _"Super powers?"_ I offered, sarcastic.

Bella rolled her coffee eyes at me and parked in front of the first building, which had a small sign over the door reading front office. No one else was parked there so of course it was off limits. We exited the truck and though it was still drizzling, we somehow managed to walked down a little stone path lined with dark hedges without getting much wet.

I watched Bella as she dramatically took a deep breath and stared at the door as if she'd open it and hell will unleash.

I rolled my eyes before pushing it open.

"Dramaqueen much?" all I got in return, was a glare.

Inside, it was brightly lit, and warmer like I'd hoped as it was a small, cozy space. The room was cut in half by a long counter, cluttered with wire baskets full of papers and brightly colored flyers taped to its front. There were three desks behind the counter, one of which was manned by a large, red-haired woman wearing glasses. She was wearing a purple t- shirt, which immediately made me feel overdressed but I didn't pay much thought to it.

The red-haired woman looked up at Bella and then me with slight awe. "Can I help you both?"

Mrs. Cope, that was _her._

"Yes," I smiled cheerfully down at her. "I am Amberine Swan and she is my sister, Isabella." I informed her, jabbing a finger at Bella and saw the immediate awareness light her eyes. We were expected, a topic of gossip no doubt. Daughters of the Chief's flighty ex-wife, come home at last. _Typical._

"Of course," she breathed out, her eyes still holding the same awe as if flicked between me and Bella. She then dug through a precariously stacked pile of documents on her desk till she found the ones she was looking for. "I have both your schedules right here, and a map of the school."

She went through our classes for us, highlighting the best route to each on the map, and gave us both a slip to have each teacher sign, which we were to bring back at the end of the day. She smiled at us and hoped, like dad, that we would like it here in Forks. I sincerely thanked her as Bella just smiled.

We compared our routine, and to say I was dissapointed with us sharing only one, the first class together, would be an understatement. Even though Bella was an year older than me, we had started school the same year which was the reason why we were stuck together in junior year.

After that, Bella shuffled back to her truck and I went to my first class. Of course it would take me more time since my sense of direction was non-existent. The hallway wasn't crowded much as others had just began to arrive. The people present in the way were gawking at me weirdly. Not letting it bother the hell out of me, I just held my head high confidently and strode with an air of comfort.

Once, I got around the cafeteria, building three was easy to spot. A large black '3' was painted on a white square on the east corner. I took a huge breath and entered the classroom which was quite small. The people in front of me stopped just inside the door to hang up their coats on a long row of hooks, I ignored it.

I took the slip up to the teacher , a tall, balding man whose desk had a nameplate identifying him as Mr. Mason. He gawked at me when he saw my name - _not an encouraging response_ \- I smiled at him nonetheless. Seems like I would have to smile a lot today at almost everyone. Not that I minded.

Bella appeared beside me a little later with flushed cheeks and passed Mr. Mason her slip, who gawked at her like he had done with me before. That was all she needed before turning scarlet, making me wonder how much blood her body contained. He sent us both to the empty desks at the back. It was harder for our new classmates to stare at us in the back, but somehow, they managed. Bella kept her head down, shying away as I faced them with indifference.

When the bell rang, a nasal buzzing sound, a gangly boy with skin problems and hair black as an oil slick leaned across the aisle to talk to me. I knew who he was. Eric Yorkie, the president of the _welcoming_ committee.

 _"You're_ Isabella Swan, aren't you?" he looked like the overly helpful, chess club type. I shook my head at his mistake.

"Actually, I'm _Amberine,_ Isabella is my sister here," I corrected him and pointed at Bella who gave me a glare at bringing her into light.

"Oh right, Amberine and Isabella," Eric looked sheepish.

"Just Bella," Bella corrected him.

"Amber," I followed suit, offering him a blinding smile which obviously had a blinding effect on him. Eric's mouth was agape.

Everyone within a three-seat radius turned to look at us with matching identical expressions - which was comical.

"Where's your next class?" he asked to both of us once he recovered from his surprise.

"History with Mr. Tate at building... two, I guess," I said quickly, already having it memorized in the class as I was paying no attention to the tedious teaching of our teacher. Bella dug inside her bag.

"Um, Government, with Jefferson, in building six."

Eric shot me an apologetic look before glancing at Bella and smiling. "I'm headed toward building four, I could show you the way..."

Definitely over-helpful. "I'm Eric," he added. _Good god save Bella from this dude._

"Well then, bye-bye for now," I smiled slyly at my sister's helpless face, throwing a rather cheerful wave at them before heading out into the rain, which had gradually picked up. No surprise in there.

I tried to shield my hair with my hands which turned out to be unsuccessful. At the end, my ash blonde hair was half damp. Thank god I didn't bother styling it seeing as my appearance was already half ruined.

The rest of the morning passed in about the same fashion. My Trigonometry teacher, Mr. Varner, was the only one who made me stand in front of the class and introduce myself. I made sure to give them the best and brightest smile I could muster and introduce myself without faltering in my speech. That had sure left a good impression.

And in the very same class, I was ordered to sit beside the one and only, Alice freaking Cullen. My favourite seer, the pixie I absolutely _adored. J_ _ust give me_ _a moment to fangirl_ _a_ _little._

I recognized Alice immediately. The pale complexion, amber eyes, raven shaded hair which was cut short and spiked in every direction and of course, that inhuman beauty of hers. The optimistic pixie had always been my most loved. I was like her in many more ways than just one. In reality, she was more beautiful that I could ever imagine.

 _Duh..._ I bet each one of the Cullen was breathtakingly gorgeous.

What I didn't expect as I sat down next to her, was the friendly vibes she gave me. I had expected Alice to be her mighty self and ignore me, being the alive human that I was with blood coursing through my veins, but that wasn't the case. The psychic vampire's face was glowing with hesistant enthusiasm as she smiled at me. I returned the gesture.

"Hello," she greeted me cheerfully.

I blinked frantically. "Uh, hi, I am Amberine, but you already know?" I sounded unsure.

"Yeah, I know, that came out wrong," I rolled my eyes, letting out a nervous chuckle. Hey, I didn't get nervous this easily, it must've been Alice's effect. "Err, you can call me Amber," I concluded, resisting the urge to slap myself.

Alice grinned with glittery teeth. "Alice Cullen," as if she needed any indroduction. "I think you're cute." she exclaimed softly, voice like tinkling bells. Her tone was soft and comforting and served that homely feels.

"And you're stunning," I grinned softly, my hesitancy forgotten. "Thank you, by the are the first person having the guts to talk to me in this school, except the teachers, of course. Other students are too busy bawling their eyes out at the sight of me. Seriously, I feel like I belong to a zoo."

"Don't be discouraged," she comforted me. "I can predict that you're soon going to fit in very nicely."

 _Predict,_ as in from her psychic abilities? What a shady thing to say.

"I won't bet against you," I internally snickered.

 _Never bet against Alice._

"Well," she started with a knowing glint. "I can also predict that we are going to be great friends."

 _What?_

Okay, honestly admitting, I was not expecting a Cullen to befriend me with promises of us being _great_ friends.

 _Maybe_ I did... but not _this_ soon. Sure, we might be 'great' friends one day but she was destined to be Bella's bestfriend and I wasn't planning to snatch that away from my sister.

I raised my both eyebrows at her, smiling slightly.

"I can predict that too, Alice Cullen."

* * *

After two classes, I started to recognize several of the faces in each class. There was always someone braver than the others who would introduce themselves - mostly boys - and ask me questions about how I was liking Forks. I would answer them in a friendly manner and in all honesty that I was loving this town. Sure I found some boys too friendly for my liking - which I definitely minded. But as far, my day was going good like I had expected.

I waltzed towards the cafeteria, humming a tune to myself. From the book, I knew that sadly, Bella was already invited by Jessica Stanley to her table at lunch. I was hoping she would save me a seat. It won't matter if she doesn't. A few nice people had asked me to sit with them at lunch but not wanting to leave Bella alone with the those sharks, I had politely declined, and thanked them for their offer.

When I went inside, I felt a rush of excitement and thrill surging through me.

This will be the first time I'll be seeing the legendary Cullens - except Alice whom I'd already met and befriended.

At the mention of Alice, my lips stretched in a painfully wide grin. In the class, we had non stop chatted about various stuffs, finding each other's company remarkably relatable and comforting. I was still baffled at her behaviour towards me, but I reminded myself that she was the cheerful one in the Cullen bunch, save for Emmett and Esme, so it wasn't that shocking for her to acknowledge my presence.

Remembering that I was about to have my mind possibly invaded, I willed myself to think about everything else but them. Edward, the telepathic Cullen, could probably hear my train of thoughts and that was something I dreaded the most.

God, just save me from him. Please, please, _please..._

Bella sat at the end of an almost full table with several of other people. A seat on her right was empty and on the left sat Jessica Stanley. I recognized her because she was the only one in the table with wild mass of dark curly hair like the book had described and her constantly moving mouth.

I walked towards them and when I was finally standing beside Bella's chair, every eye turned to stare at me. I warmly grinned at them and brushed the thick and choppy bangs out of my eyes.

"Oh, hi, you must be Bella's sister!" someone chirped up and I turned to look at Jessica who had now plastered a big smile on her face.

"Yep."

I sat on the spare chair beside Bella. Jessica started introducing herself and her friends. I was kind of interested in knowing them I guess, since I wanted to make friends and all. Almost everyone at the table seemed nice, especially two girls, Samantha Wells, a strawberry blonde with tanned complexion - something absolutely rare in Forks, and another one, Angela Webber, a polite and softspoken girl.

Jessica resumed rattling on and on about other stuffs about school, teachers, home works and expressed her dislike openly for them. Bella was faking curiousity as I just glanced around the cafeteria, losing the interest in Jessica's self centered talking. I saw several eyes focused on me, examining me without making any hide of it. I paid them no heed and continued my own observation.

It was there, sitting in the lunchroom, avoiding curious and intrigued eyes, that I first saw them.

The sight alone caused my breathing to hitch slightly and my heart to flutter a little.

And no, I wasn't going on all swoony mode for them like Bella had done. I was just giddy with excitement.

They were sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, as far away from where I sat as possible in the long room. There were five of them. They weren't talking, and they weren't eating - though I knew why - but they each had a tray of untouched food in front of them for show - such a shameful waste. Obviously, they weren't gawking at us, unlike most of the other students, so it was safe to stare at them without the fear of getting caught ogling. But it was none of these things that caught, and held, my attention.

Suddenly, a thought came into my mind before I could stop it.

 _'Yo, Edward.'_

I surpressed the urge to slap myself for my utter stupidity. What if he heard?

I panicked a little and glanced at their table, particularly at the copper haired guy but I didn't receive much of a reaction from him like I expected to. Could this mean...?

 _'Edward Cullen!'_ I screamed inside my mind, desperate and curious. _'so how was your breakfast this morning? Wasn't the deer you devoured up to your taste?'_

Again, no reaction. Or was he purposefully ignoring my attempts? And what if he'd already heard me and was secretly plotting to murder me?

Funeral Amber, _funeral._ Congratulations, you called your own death.

But I am too young to die, _again._ That should be unfair.

I had no idea why I tried yet again.

 _'Speak up you._ _Did animal blood finally dysfunctioned your mind raping abilities? Oh, don't tell me, has god finally punished you for murdering innocent cute animals? It's fantastic then!'_

 _Nothing._

So it's confirmed... Edward Cullen can't hear my thoughts and I'm a desperate mad teen on crack. Though my relief outweighed my realization of being mental.

First of all, I could think whatever I wanted to without having to guard my thoughts every time Edward was around, and second, I could curse him all I wanted without him having any freaking idea. Talk about awesome.

And oh, no funeral at all.

It's a win-win thingy, right?

I sighed happily and once more continued my observation on them. I admit that for more than once I had tried to imagine their appearance. But I had always given up, thinking it was useless since my human imagination couldn't measure up to their supernatural beauty.

And right now looking at them, I was glad that I had given up my shitty imagination since it would have been put to shame if the comparison was done.

They all were different yet so alike. They were pale - as expected - and beautiful like God had taken all the time in the world to sculpt them. It was a pity that Cullens weren't being kept in a museum for display...

But like seriously, I now understand the reason why Bella seemed so dazzled by them.. They're freaking perfect. It should be declared illegal. That type of perfection will only induce jealousy, insecurity and doubt in others about their own selves. But well...

My eyes fell on Alice who was looking away from everyone else. Though she couldn't see it, I threw a friendly smile her way and proceed to regard the rest.

Next one, sitting beside her was the honey blond boy, Jasper Whitlock Hale, the badass vampire. I had always thought that he was stronger than any of the Cullens. For someone who had bathed in blood for decades, he was strong enough to leave that bloody path and transform into someone totally different, someone better. Though the thought makes me cringe and horrified now, but in my past life, I had wanted him to suck Bella's precious blood dry and end the pathetic story.

Like I said, _cringeworthy._

And then there was Rosalie, the gorgeously vain rose with thorns that could pierce you to death. Alluring and deadly. I had always loved her because of her personality. Yes she had once been a conceited - though she still is - and stupid fool who was in love with the idea of love in her human life but reading about the immense amount of respect she had for humanity, it made me respect her. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever laid my eyes on.

Whereas Alice' beauty was more ethereal than bold, Rosaile's was more sharper, defined. The appearance of a statuesque golden angel. Shallow and scornful but with a part that craved to be a human again. I could justify her dislike for Bella who was willing to strip out of her life and humanity for some guy.

Slinging an arm over her shoulders in a casually possessive manner, was Emmett, the Cullen bear. He was huge with those muscles and that body. Damn, it took me everything to not run towards him and tackle him in a big hug. I loved that guy. He was so adorable. I mean, his personality and all. He was a ray of golden sunshine streaming through the canopy of dark Cullen clouds.

And last but not the least was my most favourite Cullen - ha, as if. Yes, Edward himself. I glared at him who was just looking away. I was glaring at him too hard like I was some Medusa trying to morph him into stone.

 _Note: No,_ it didn't work since the authority who reincarnated me hadn't been generous enough to grant me with the Medusa power.

Me perceiving him lasted longer than I intended. As my eyes took in his every little detail, I couldn't deny that he was... just flawless.

Despite my constant and useless denial, it was blatantly visible why he was such a hearthrob. With that mess of bronze hair, attractive boyish look, and the perfectly sculpted facial features, he was absolutely _unearthly._

He was perfect in every aspect - well, physically at least. His horrible personality clashed with his good looks, and it was so sad to watch such potentiality go to waste.

It was much easier to despise him when I was completely oblivious of his actual good looks but how can anyone hate a face like that?

I still do though. I'm just momentarily lost, nothing to worry about.

I looked away, chastising myself. I peeked a little at Bella who was still staring at their table in pure amazement, no doubt pondering over their 'devastating inhuman beauty'.

"Who are _they?"_ I heard Bella ask when she finally diverted her gaze away from them.

Jessica looked up to see who Bella meant - though already knowing, probably, from her tone - suddenly he looked at her, Edward Cullen. He looked at the curly haired gossip queen for just a fraction of a second, and then his eyes flickered to Bella's.

I gauged both their reactions and Edward was the one who first looked away causing my sister's blood flow to travel and gather in her face in obvious embarrassment.

Jessica giggled in embarrassment before starting to speak up.

"That's Edward and Emmett Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. The one who left is Alice Cullen; they all live together with Dr. Cullen and his wife," she said this under her breath.

 _Huh, Alice left?_ I darted my eyes to the seat Alice occupied previously but it was empty. I must've not noticed.

"They are... very nice-looking," Bella struggled with the conspicuous understatement. I rolled my eyes at her and elbowed her side. My sister let out a small hiss and turned to glare at me, all the while as I grinned and wiggled my eyebrows at her. Suggestively, I may add.

"Yes!" Jessica agreed with another giggle. She giggles a lot, to the point where cuteness turns into annoying. "They're all together though - Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice, I mean. And they live together," her voice held all the shock and condemnation of the small town. I decided to speak up, irritated with this judemental crap.

"Are they biologically related?" I asked sharply. Whoa, I sounded defensive. Jessica's gaze flickered to mine and I saw a little shock traveling through her eyes at my tone. Bella didn't look surprised since she was used to my outbursts.

Yes, I was extremely righteous. A feature of mine almost everyone found annoying.

"No, they aren't. They're all adopted. The Hales are brother and sister, twins - the blondes - and they're foster children of Dr and Mrs. Cullen."

"Well, then what's the problem?" I bluntly said and rolled my eyes at her small mindedness. "They aren't actually related, _duh._ You know what Jess, you shouldn't be that much judgemental about them or anyone without having full knowledge of their lives, and this is twenty first century for god's sake."

Okay, I was actually gleeful that Jessica seemed a little put out. I gave myself a mental pat and from the corner of my eye, glanced at the Cullens' table. Their reaction was something I wasn't expecting. Instead of their 'I-don't-give-a-damn-go-die-for-all-I-care' expressions, they all looked actually a little surprised, just a tiny bit, that someone defended them. I somehow made a huge mistake and looked directly at Edward.

The bronze haired vampire was staring at me, boring holes into my face with his amber shaded eyes. He simply looked curious, surprised and... intensely intrigued.

What the...

"They look a little old for foster children," Bella, ever the peacemaker, piqued up, sounding curious.

Jessica quickly recovered from the shock state I had just sent her into, and shrugged one shoulder.

"They are now, Jasper and Rosalie are both eighteen, but they've been with Mrs. Cullen since they were eight. She's their aunt or something like that."

"That's really kind of nice - for them to take care of all those kids like that, when they're so young and everything."

"I guess so," Jessica admitted reluctantly, and I knew that she didn't like the Cullens at all. With the glances she was throwing at their adopted children, the reason was pure jealousy.

"I think that Mrs. Cullen can't have any kids, though," she added, as if that lessened their kindness.

I sighed. I was really starting to dislike this girl.

Now that certainly lessens the guilt I would be feeling after having to repeatedly insult her for her idiotic judgemental views.

"So what if she can't... Is that her fault? Or does that outweighs her kindness?" I scoffed loudly as every pair of eye in the table turned to look at me. Jessica was stunned, unable to speak anything but glare at me for speaking in their defense.

I continued with a new found determination. "Unlike you, who is shaming their name, I bet they're actually nice, nicer than you. How could you say such vile things about them without actually knowing them? Last time I checked, Alice Cullen was much more better than you."

"She talked with you?" Jessica inquired, visibly surprised.

"Yes, I had an _'actual'_ conversation with her," I gasped dramatically. "Do you even know what that means? To have conversation with anyone? Or do you just know how to bitch about others? You know, you open that huge mouth of yours and all that comes out is stupid and insensitive gossip. Newsflash, no one actually cares."

Okay, I am a rude bitch. The end.

I wasn't even afraid that my reputation would be stained on my first day. Hey, I was speaking my mind honestly and defending others from being wronged. I wasn't doing anything to be ashamed of.

Silence insued for few moments. That is until a giggle rang out. I turned to see Samantha giggling loudly. Bella was just shocked at my outburst, her face was turning quite red. No doubt she was embarrassed of her little sister's actions. I shrugged and glanced at Jessica whose face was red from embarrassment too. But despite everything, I felt bad for her. Nobody, I mean nobody should get publicly humiliate or have the right humiliate anyone. Not even me, or her.

Damn you my saint conscience.

Jessica scowled at me. A few more moments of silence ensued before my dear sister spoke up with a hesitant tone.

"Errm, have they - the Cullens - always lived in Forks?" Bella asked. Probably contemplating how she would have noticed them on one of her summers here. I knew that they moved here two years ago, just around the time Bella stopped visiting Forks but I should have at least seen one of them in this town since I never stopped visiting. Strange how I never crossed path with any of them before or even heard of them. This is a small town, so imagine my surprise.

"No," it was Angela who answered this. "They just moved down two years ago from somewhere in Alaska."

"Which one is the boy with the reddish brown hair?" Bella asked as I shifted my eyes towards the said guy.

He was staring at Bella, not gawking but just staring which I found creepy anyway. Probably noticing my eyes on him, his own flicked towards mine and held my gaze.

He might have expected me to break the eye contact and look away, blushing in embarrassment as Jessica and Bella had done previously. But to his obvious surprise, I wasn't willing to break it. He raised an eyebrow at me and I mirrored his action, raising my both since I was incapable of the single eyebrow raising thingy.

At my action, the intrigued glint in Edward's eyes expanded. It felt like minutes but merely just a few seconds had passed with our staring contest.

The game ended when he looked away with a frustrated expression. I bet he now knew that he couldn't read my mind.

And that's how Amber just won!

"That's Edward. He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good- looking enough for him," back to her sunny self, Jessica sniffed, a clear case of sour grapes. Clearly turned down by Edward Cullen. I wonder when. I watched Bella biting her bottom lip to suppress her smile and Edward looking away to hide his own too!

I snorted at the display.

Well, isn't this couple just so bloody lovely?

* * *

The rest of the classes passed smoothly and I made several more friends. I also noticed that there were more people flogging around me, especially boys who would try to make a conversation with me. It was like I was some magnetic force pulling them in.

I was also worried, since Bella was paired off with Broodward Cullen in biology. She was his singer, and that took Edward pretty much his everything to refrain himself from attacking my sister.

Bella's probability meter at being a lunch was running up high and I just wished and prayed that his animalistic instincts wouldn't take over him.

In the books he didn't even took a little bite out of her but still, the worry didn't cease a bit. Imagine my relief when Bella came out of the class in one uharmed piece - well, physically at least.

I went to my last class, gym. I was actually feeling indifferent at the prospect of sports. I was okay at games, often succeeding to dodge the volleyball from making contact with my face and keeping upright in running. But sometimes, I tended to be clumsy or have my body parts destroyed by the happenings of this class.

The Gym teacher, Coach Clapp, found me a uniform and thankfully didn't make me dress down for today's class. Even if I tried to tell him that I was okay to play, he didn't once listen. He made me sit on a bench and observe how the other players played since I was new. I watched alone as the students played four matches of volleyball stimulusly, and was actually amused to find some people who were even more clumsier than the other. When the final bell rang, I was more than grateful to get out of the gym.

I walked slowly to the office to return my paperwork. The rain had drifted away, but the wind was strong, and colder. My face was flushing too much because of the cold wind that constantly hit my face. My pale skin was heated in rosy color, not used to this extreme coldness.

Edward Cullen stood at the desk in front of me. I would've recognized that tousled bronze hair anywhere. He didn't appear to notice the sound of my entrance. I knew why was he here...

He was simply attempting to to get rid of Bella - _unsuccessfully,_ I might add. He was clearly in the middle of an argument with Mrs. Cope but I didn't really gave a damn. I paid no mind to him and his low seductive tone as I walked over to the receptionist.

"Hello, how was your day?" I interrupted them and smiled at her politely, diverting her flustered gaze away from Edward who stood beside me. My heart was beating a little too faster than usual but not like it was actually trying to escape my ribcage. I felt Edward's eyes on one side of my face, burning heatedly.

"It was... good," she answered with hesitance as if she wasn't used to students asking her about her day. Or was it the effect of Edward? "And what about yours dear?"

"Oh, mine was good too," I grinned cheekily at her and laughed softly. "A few bad incidents but it was okay. I'm really rooting for tomorrow - which would definitely be better."

Obviously she wasn't used to students being friendly with her because she flushed a little before smiling at me warmly. "An optimist, I assume?"

I think Edward just made a large freaking hole in my cheek, from the intensity he was staring at me. He needs a deer - or a bunny, that'd definitely soothe him.

"Yep," I answered without any doubt.

We exchanged smiles and I passed her my slip. I turned towards Edward and gave him a cool, composed look. "She's free now. Sorry to interrupt, by the way."

Wow, I sounded so calm and collected. Where's my reward for that?

I turned on my heels and was about to exit the room when I found Bella standing awkwardly at the entrance, staring at Edward's back. The door opened again, and the cold wind suddenly gusted through the room, rustling the papers on the desk, swirling Bella's hair around her face and my bangs out of my forehead. The girl who came in, was Samantha, who vaguely smiled at me a little, looking hurried. She merely stepped to the desk, placed a note in the wire basket, and walked out again.

"Never mind, then," I heard Edward saying hastily in a voice like velvet. Ugh, why he got to be like that?

"I can see that it's impossible. Thank you so much for your help," and then he started disappearing out the door not before shooting one last pure and undeniable hatred filled glance at Bella.

My naive sister was on the verge of crying. The expression she wore on her face tore my heart into shreds. I felt myself tearing up too. I had always been an emotional girl. Even a small thing could trigger emotional storms within me. And that's what happened right then. A second later, I found myself running out of the door, leaving Bella confused and worried - she was always worried, not much of a surprising thing - behind me.

"I'll be at the parking lot!" I yelled at Bella hoping she would catch my words.

On my way, people were staring at me maniacally as I ran, trying to find a particular douche. When I was at the end of the almost empty hallway, I finally managed to catch up with Edward.

" _Gah,_ hey!" I called out for him a little breathlessly, my command causing him to freeze. Thank god that he did.

Breathing heavily, I approached him with long strides and faced him with a furious expression, all the while as my heart thrummed pain fully loud.

"Err," I started awkwardly, my clumsy words not matching my sharp tone. "Well, can you just...apologize?" I blurted out when we were a few feet away from eachother. I crossed my arms and willed myself to stay upright without faltering.

Edward looked... he looked dangerous, and devastatingly hot, but dangerous nonetheless and those were deadly combination. His eyes were darker, flat black with thirst and anyone would've feared for their precious life and distanced themselves from him as much as they could if they were in my place, but I didn't. I just stood there with a stubborn look etched on my face.

My conscience was yelling me to run, and cursing me for having a death wish.

Furrowing his brows, Edward slowly tilted his head down, taking slow, graceful steps forward. He ended up invading the good distance I had maintained between us.

 _"Apologize?"_ he hissed softly, anger and hatred coated in his icy tone. I rolled my eyes at him in utter annoyance. Spoilt little brat.

"I want you to apologize to my sister, Bella Swan," I replied as calmly as I could.

He gave me a hard look, scrunching his brows further, causing an exasperated sigh to escape past my lips.

"Bella Swan? You know, brunette, big brown eyes, new student, female, your bio partner... " I stopped myself from uttering out the words 'human' and 'your singer' into the list.

Edward scowled in derision. "I know who Bella Swan is. But what exactly gives you the idea that I'll do as you say?"

"Because you made a mistake," I replied simply and shot him a harsh glare before continuing. "Listen, what you did to my sister back there, making her feel so low of herself, was totally wrong. You know what? My sister has a low self esteem and is very insecure and also, she has a hard time fitting in with people, anywhere and because of some problematic dude like you, I don't want my sister to blame herself for what wasn't her fault,"

I took a deep, heavy breath. Just stupid emotions going haywire.

I continued. "She doesn't deserves to be treated that way, like some sort of filthy dirt. Nobody does! I saw it on her face the moment you walked out of that room that she did considered herself as such. And what could you have possibly done to make my sister feel so miserable?"

I expected a sensible response from him, but all he said was, "You don't understand."

Guess I should've expected that from an angry specimen in an argument instead of something more productive.

It was funny how Bella had said the same thing to me last night. And ironic since I knew everything more than any of them, even Alice. And that said a lot.

"Mind enlightening me? you see, I happen to be a very dumb blonde," I sarcastically smiled.

And yes, I loved making blonde jokes about myself. Sue my blonde self for all I care.

"Just apologize and end this, please. I don't want my sister to suffer because of you."

He'll be vacationing - not really - in Alaska for a week and my sister would be suffering here pondering over what she possibly did to set him off like that, and I didn't want my sister to endure the pain for one total week while he was away.

"If you think I'll be apologizing to her," Edward spat the word 'apologizing' and 'her' in disgust. With a dark and murderous look, he stepped even closer to me and gripped my arm in a tight grip. Though it was only the not-so-much-thick material of sweater avoiding us from skin contact, I could still feel the icy coldness seeping off him.

Edward was tall, dangerously towering over my average built. He glared down at me with those dark eyes, as I winced a little in pain.

"Then you are _very_ wrong in your assumptions," he finished.

With the finalization in his words, Edward stormed away from where I stood, like a lightning. I remained unmoving for a moment before breaking out of my reverie. Did I just witness a dark and angry side of Edward Cullen?

Okay, I admit I was stupid. No, more like suicidal. Commanding him to apologize to Bella wasn't one of my brightest idea ever but the look Bella had on her face just broke me. She was being true to her promise from yesterday and trying to fit in, only to have it ruined by Edward. That was why I went after him.

Edward was visibly still angry from his encounter with Bella. Maybe it will be a good thing if he takes that much needed vacation which will definitely knock some sense into his thick skull.

Bella was already inside the truck waiting for me by the time I reached the parking lot which was empty. My sister shot me a look of concern.

"Where were you?"

"Bathroom," was my brilliant answer.

After a while, I spoke up again with a soft and comforting tone.

"I saw how that bronze haired Cullen looked at you..." I wanted to cheer Bella up. Nobody could make her feel like shit other than me myself. I grinned a little. "Edward isn't it? Did you stab him or what? I wouldn't be surprised if you did. I mean from the look he was giving you, he deserved it more than anyone. That guy looked liked he was some sort of a stuck up and soiled bitch. You know, Bitchward Cullen!"

Bella tilted her head a little at my direction and pasted a fake smile, though her eye were telling a completely different tale. I sighed with dissapointment at myself. One day of Edward Cullen and Bella was already across her 'forever depressed' bridge. My thoughts were bitter and revolving around him and him only, like Bella's.

Nothing more was spoken as we drove away to home. With Bella fighting her tears and me fighting the element of anger.

And the ironic thing was, Edward Cullen was responsible for both causes.

* * *

That night when the rain poured down madly like there was no tomorrow giving me a sense of relaxation and belonging, I wasn't sleeping like I would have if it were any other nights. I was fully awake and glancing at my reflection in the vintage vanity mirror of my room. I was pondering over the turn of events today, and oh how beautiful impact I had left on Edward. Lost in my own thoughts, that was when I spotted something on my right arm.

A large deep purple-ish bruise in the size of Texas.

Well, well, if it's not the most generous and bratty Edward Cullen.

* * *

 **[REVISED]**


	3. Chapter 2 OPEN BOOK

**There was strength, and there was also just the determination to look strong. She guarded herself like a secret.**

 **-Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson**

* * *

 **2\. OPEN BOOK**

* * *

As per my expectations, the next day was much more _better_ than the first one.

The day helped me into having reassurance that yes, first day of school always sucked in one way or another - especially with the whole school littering gloriously with those annoying, nosy, air-headed people who had the ability to devour you alive with their eyes only - but it was going to be a lot more sufferable later on. I was going to survive and fit in perfectly.

I had anticipated that the new arrivals' excitement would reduce soon but much to my chagrin, people still weren't enough satisfied from the day before so they continued gawking at me - more than ever.

 _Freaking sweet._

Even so, it was better because I made a few more friends in school. Well... not _too_ many though, the reason being that I was darn picky when it came to making friends. _Socializing_? yup, I could do that with any and everyone but forming friendships _hastily_? Nah. I was absolutely relucant because I wanted people to be friends with me not only because I was the shiny new toy here.

Nope, not even a bit. Materialistic people weren't really my type. I remember how people were crowding around Bella like the book had narrated just because of the very same reason and I didn't want myself to suffer the same fate. I wanted real friendship and friends, all based in honesty.

The day was better because I hung out more with Samantha Wells. I liked her, she was spunky and the very same strawberry blonde from the day before who I found was the nicest girl besides Angela Webber - also with whom I had initiated friendship with. She hung out more with Bella and personally, I almost felt... _bad_ for her. I mean she was going to be casted aside after Bella takes in a place along beside her supernatural family and finds a new best friend in Alice and later in Jacob. Like hey! humans deserved a chance too. But I didn't let those trival things bother me much.

The day was better because the coach had let me play volleyball at the gym without any reluctance and I had also gotten to show my skills to the coach - smugly I might add - my expression back there clearly implying that I wasn't someone to sit around and watch whilst other got their way.

 _Don't_ take me for granted, mind you.

The day got even better because of Jessica Stanely, who was still bitter from yesterday's honest insults, being less enthusiastic to converse with me besides a few hostile greetings - yay! That was some good riddiance. I bet she was cursing her life out every time she looked at me with those sharp scornful eyes of hers.

The next thing that pleased me greatly was my sorta bitty friendship with Alice Cullen.

It had certainly blossomed much more than the day prior. Mainly our amazing fashion taste and almost similar personality began contributing largely into that further. We would greet eachother at the Maths class and have a small talk before shutting up and focusing on the teacher and class. And after the end of the period, we would walk together to our respective classes, once again resuming our chat. It was not that much progress where we would suddenly start calling our selves BFF's but still, what _little_ I had with Alice was enough than being some strangers.

And most of all, the day turned freaking _lovely_ because of Edward Cullen's absence.

Our last encounter at the hallway had left me both, furious and stunned. Though I understood the logic behind his actions, I was still pissed because of the large purple bruise he bestowed me with. Like what the hell? You just don't get to treat anyone, I repeat, _Anyone_ like the way he did with me.

Honestly putting, I was full on relishing his absenteeism. Though my mood was a little dampened seeing my sister who had been strangely disappointed and sullen at Edward's sudden disappearance. And she didn't even regard it necessary to open up with me - which was like a painful slap to my face since we had made a habit of sharing almost everything.

 _More like I had made a habit of getting everything - worries, thoughts, opinions, feelings - out of her_.

Still, it wasn't like I was some insensitively inconsiderate bitch to spat it in her face just for the sake of releasing my pent up frustration regarding her. _Most_ of the times, I respected her choices. It was totally up to her to open up with me with something that she considered too personal to voice out aloud. I wouldn't force or burden her at that matter. I suspected that she probably didn't want to dump her worries on me, like she never did being the most selfless one she was in the Swan bunch.

And as expected, the Cullens were throwing those angry, accusing and creepy looks at my sister which _wasn't_ gone unnoticed by Bella like I hoped it would since I knew that the girl had a tendency to turn everything dramatic. Even more than _I_ did and that spoke _a lot._ Bella, being the annoyingly naive human she was, felt like she had done something terribly wrong to receive all those looks. It was so like my sister, twisting everything against _her_ , herself. But this whole thing set me off real bad.

Oh please! what were they originally accusing her of? Chasing their precious brother away because of being a delicious smelling human? It wasn't Bella's fault. Well, it wasn't anyone's fault, period. And if they were so fucking worried that Edward wouldn't return for like, _ever_... then they were going to get the shock of their life at the end of this week. Tanya Denali - of all people - would convince and encourage him to return to Forks.

And he would be back again, Tada!

And also, my peaceful days will come to an end too. Again, Ta- _hell no_ -da.

At the end of yet another school day, I went to get the groceries, without wasting much time. Dad couldn't cook to save his life - not a big surprise - and there was no food, at all, in the house. Dad had been having those unhealthy takeouts for years, except for the time period when I visited him and cooked for him or the times when Harry Clearwater brought him homecooked food probably prepared by his wife. But I wasn't one to tolerate this crap called leftovers in our house anymore. Bella and I were perfectly capable of feeding our dad some decent food alright. What was the point of having two grown up daughters if they can't take care of you like you deserve?

And since there was nothing else for Bella to do except possibly sit alone in her room and ponder over her life and choices, she decided that I could use extra help and drove us to the Thriftway, not before doing one of her usual tasks that's recently added to the list - drooling over the Cullens who were getting into their cars in the parking lot.

One word, three syllables.

Pathetic.

The Thriftway was not far from the school, just a few streets south, off the highway. It was nice to be inside the supermarket - felt normal. Bella and I did the shopping at home, switching turns and it was easy falling into the pattern of the familiar task gladly - since our mom wasn't interested in such things, the work - undoubtedly - was dumped on us. The store was big enough inside that I couldn't hear the tapping of the rain on the roof. When we got home, Bella unloaded all the groceries, stuffing them in wherever she could find an open space - which would definitely be difficult later to actually spot where the hell the items were kept. I tried to reprimand her from doing so but why would Bella listen to me when I gave some good and decent advices huh?

Bella insisted on cooking the dinner, avoiding my protests and help. She politely shoo-ed me to go and do my homework and I agreed like some incredibly obedient puppy. Honestly, my sister did cooking a lot more better than me, since I was more proficient in baking. It was one of my favourite pastimes and almost my solace to relief myself from frustration. Working in the bakery had paid off wonderfully. I swear I could start a bakery and run it myself without anyone's help and probably be the _only_ customer. Heh.

In the spare time, I did my homework, despite feeling profoundly bored to no extent. And just after I finished, I checked my mails, messages and calls. Mom was frantic. It took me a rather long mail to reassure her that me and Bella were still alive. And my friends from Phoenix were equally frantic too - which brought a wide smile on my face. The thing I've loved most about that city were the friends I made. Crazy juveniles. I messaged most of them about my stay here in Forks and called some, missing them like there was no tomorrow. I'd always found it sad how Bella never had anyone to contact to beside our mother in Phoenix. She didn't have... friends. Sure she would tag along with me and my friends at my stubborn insitance but _that_ was it, she mostly kept to herself, probably viewing herself some almighty adult and not childish enough to meddle in her little sister's affairs. Some wallflower she is.

The said girl called me and dad down when the dinner was finally ready. It was good, steak and potatoes. I didn't like meat much though. No, not because of Bella's cooking. I just preferred more vegan foods for some particular reasons. Killing animals had always been morally wrong in my case. Of course I was a non-vegetarian but still, I didn't exactly enjoy all the deaths of those poor animals.

Dad, me and Bella ate in silence, a comfortable one at that. I didn't talk much, surprising everyone including _myself_. Bella and dad discussed about stuffs, school, friends and the Cullens - _insert some eye rolling here -_ Bella of course had to go on and call them ' _outcast_ ' indirectly, earning herself a rather long speech from dad as he defended the Cullens. And at Bella's flabbergasted look, I had cracked up causing her to glare daggers and knives at me that only did worse and increased my hysteria. I was _this_ close to choking myself to death. Several times, I caught dad throwing those worrisome looks at me during the dinner - obviously wondering how crazy his youngest daughter was from the core of her being.

Yeah, I was definitely a little bit cracked on inside. I mean, for someone who knew too much for her own good, it was justifiable.

The rest of the week was uneventful. By Friday I was able to recognize and name, almost majority of the students at school. To my utter dissatisfaction, I was still sitting with Jessica's group at the lunch. Sure there were people more tolerable than her but she was a freaking gossip queen. There would also be times when I would prefer eating in the library and having peaceful time to myself but other times, I had to endure the pain in the neck that was Jessica.

In one conversation, a trip La Push beach was mentioned which reminded me that I needed to pay a visit, _soon_. The following weekend won't be possible since I had shitloads of homeworks and assignments pending. But I also had my own schemes pending too which I had to lead to success, and perhaps a whole bunch of werewolves and werewolves-to-be to befriend.

My first week in Forks passed amazingly. More than I could ask for.

The next Monday was the day to be dreaded. The **return** of Edward Cullen.

Throughout the time being when he was gone, I had a whole week to crack some plans in making this world - _not really_ \- a better place. Ya know, wiping out unnecessary dramas, helping Bella and trying out some new baking recipes. But with him back, the book's events were starting to unfold too. _Too_ quickly than I would've liked.

It was no wonder to me how much I _loathed_ Stephanie Meyer just for making all the events happen in such a messy rush in the series. I mean, for instance, Edward and Bella fell in love with eachother before I could even finish saying ' _disgusting_ '. They just had two conversations about some random stuffs and bam! They were so in love after that. And it was fucked up, not to mention creepy. _But_ , from my own intuition, they weren't exactly in love at the very beginning. More like some intense infatuation where they mistook it for the internal forever kinda love. Their whole relationship was dangerously toxic.

God, I could surely do something if I was given an ultimatum to pair the duo with someone else who were worthy enough of them...

But no, I couldn't.

You're so screwed up Stephanie Meyer!

...

Says the _most_ insane girl of the century.

Awh man... I was surely going to have my hands full in upcoming days. Dayum!

Because of the rushed events, I was sick worried for my sister. I didn't want her to be stuck into some unhealty relationship where the guy didn't even deem her as an _equal_. And neither did she once stood up for herself and made her _own_ decisions and choices! For me, relationships should be based on respect, no fucked up controlling and equality - all the things Bella and Edward's forthcoming relationship was _not_ going to possess. It almost felt nauseous, knowing how much Bella seeked her lovely Edward and his opinion in almost everything as he continued treating her like some precious porcelain. She was so... so _dependent_. Not only with Edwrad, but then with Jacob _too. Like how in New Moon Bella needed Jacob to fill the void that Edward left._

 _And she calls herself mature._

And times like these, when I would spend pondering over their relationship would I always decide to perhaps help them in their future reltionship and stop it from being completely disastrous. Especially if it was within my control.

I wasn't much of a denier. Yes, I do admit that I was a bossy and control freak and sometimes, the whole thing surprised me. It was somewhat a reminder how much shrewd I internally was and still, a _controlled_ screwed.

But the thing that bugged me the most was my faltering control when it came to Edward. Like my reaction to Edward's appearance and me not being able to control my own head and my impulsive decision to chase him in the hallway which didn't have a pretty outcome.

Especially why had I reacted the way I did when I first saw him? It was like my subconscious was full on control of my reactions which sounded spooky as hell.

Or maybe because it was the hormonal phase of my life?

Oh boy, yes... I mean truly, it wasn't in my girl-ish nature to be _immune_ to a boy's charm right? Even if the boy was a grade A brooding vampiric asshole. And whatever I had felt back there at that time, should be immediately put to a stop. Gee, that guy was going to be my _brother-in-law,_ soon. And it was so not me.

"You don't look like your _usual_ self." Samantha commented as we walked together to our class. We both had Biology, though we weren't paired together, sadly. She was already taken and there was only one seat left beside some girl who was too quiet, quieter than even Bella. Boo, shocking right? I shrugged nonchalantly and rubbed a hand over my flushed cheek in an attempt to keep it warm.

"Huh, I wasn't aware... And my usual self you say?" I played dumb and pressed my lips together. Just this morning I had seen a silver Volvo - undoubtedly Edward's - present in the parking lot which had considerably drained my optimism for today. _He was back._

"You know, the energetic and care-free one who smiles too damn much. I'm surprised 'smiling' isn't your parmament expression." Samantha replied, and plastered a sweet innocent mask with her eyebrows wiggling and a wide smile stretched at her pink gloss coated lips. She was mocking me, _clearly_.

I scoffed at her and pouted a little. "Wow, you make me sound such a goody two shoes. And I'm not obligated to smile every freaking second of the day. That would be creepy."

"Well aren't you just a goody two shoes?"

I grinned mischievously and winked at the strawberry blonde.

If only she knew how cunning and _'evil_ ' I really was.

"Believe me sister, this innocent face is just a _facade_ to hide the scheming devil inside." I snickered a little, knowing what I just said was completely honest.

I found the air was full of swirling bits of white. I could hear people shouting excitedly to each other. The wind bit at my cheeks, my nose.

"It's snowing," I heard Samantha murmuring beside me, sounding displeased, the one tone that got on my nerves.

 _Not a fan of snow, I see._

Hell, mother nature was bestowing them with the glory to experience her delights and look at people like her! Doing nothing but getting tire of it. My inner sun-hating self was raging.

"Be a happy duck!" I looked at the little cotton fluffs that were building up along the sidewalk and swirling erratically past my face. I giggled loudly and held my both hands out, letting the small bits fall on them. "Back in Phoenix, the concept of snow and coldness was foreign, most people honestly didn't have any idea how beautiful it really could be. Think of all the snow fun we were missing out! I missed this, I missed Forks." I voiced my thoughts aloud with a gleeful expression.

Living in Phoenix had been a pain in the ass, especially in that soul eating weather.

"You'll get tired of this _all_ eventually. Everyone does. Just wait and see."

I glared at Samantha who was eyeing the snow with distaste and dramatically gasped loudly, getting a hold of her attention.

"How ungratefully hateful some people can be! Speak one word against _my_ lovely Forks and see me going all ninja shit on you!" To prove my point, I threateningly pointed my index finger at her face.

My lovely friend though, was unaffected by my warning.

"Whatever Amber..." She rolled her eyes that reminded me so much of the greenery that presented itself in Forks and grinned down at me - since she was taller than my 5 '4 self, which was totally unfair. "You should try in acting. You'll give everyone a run for money. Mark _my_ words."

I smiled almost arrogantly. "Oh, I know right? My talents and skills are just too good to go unnoticed!"

"Being cocky now are we?" Samantha raised her both eyebrows.

Flicking my hair over my shoulder as some dramatic gesture, I looked smugly at my friend who seemed amused.

"Why, I have a reason to be, don't you think!"

"Dramaqueen."

* * *

Throughout the morning, everyone chattered excitedly about the snow - including me - apparently it was the first snowfall of the new year. Wasn't it wonderful that I got to experience that?

Alice greeted me cheerfully, well more cheerful than usual as we conversed enthusiastically about the weather. And I made sure to not let my woe shine through that partially friendly mood of mine.

Right... the reason behind her truckload happiness being her favourite brother Edward coming back from Alaska.

 _Oh joy!_

Trig came, which was quite... _interesting_. Turns out, Edward was in the same class as me which surprised me a little since I didn't notice it until now. Undoubtedly, the reason being my inconsideration in the first day. I remember how I hadn't exactly had time to survey around and analyse everything that particular day.

He was seated at the fartherest corner of the room, his head down seemingly concentrating in his notebook like it was the most interesting thing ever created.

I stood at the door, pondering for a bit before sighing and sauntering over my seat which was just two seats in front from Edward's which was an unfortunate thing. I settled myself and my stuffs down.

Class started. Not much of an ' _yay_ ' thing.

It was only a few minutes later that I felt a burning sensation making a wonderful entrance underneath the skin of my back.

 _Someone was watching me._

It shouldn't have been bothersome to me since I have long ago learned to endure people's eyes on me. But this... this feeling was _strange_ , just _something else._ Like someone was not trying to stare at me but _through_ me. And I might just know who that someone was.

 _Freaking Edward. Why can't he just suck me dry instead and end this once and for all rather than giving me an hour of staring torture?_

I was certain it was him because last Monday, at the lunch, I have had the very same feeling when Edward bawled his eyes out, staring at me.

I didn't turn around to confirm my guess. I just sat there on my seat and focused on what the teacher was speaking. And almost agonizingly slowly, the creepy sensation began vanishing along with my wee bit of unease. When Trig ended, so did the torture. And I wasted no time rushing out of the class like it was about to swallow me whole if I stayed any longer.

When the lunch time rolled in, so did the snowfights and excited laughters. To my absolute delight, mush balls were flying everywhere and everytime I would get attacked by one - which was after every five seconds - I would just laugh it off insanely, not really indulging into the madness knowing I had enough time for that later. I continued waltzing to the cafeteria, receiving snowballs.

I caught up with Bella in the food line. Immediately, giggling like crazy, I slung my one arm around her shoulders.

"Why are you so _red_?" I asked, noticing that her body was set on fire despite the coldness that presented itself outside. She was blushing madly, but why? "You look _cute_."

Ignoring my comment, Bella shrugged my arm off with a disgusted grunt. My seemingly irritated sister wrinkled her nose, face still in the brightest shade of red which was comical as hell.

"You're dripping." She pointed out the obvious.

"Aftermath of getting repeatedly hit by snowballs. _Awesome_ , man... You know, you and I should have a snow fight sometimes! Sister bonding time!"

Bella smiled at my offer as her facial features softened visibly.

 _Say yes!_

" _No_."

I huffed, my pleading look transformed into a victorious one. "I'll take that as an _yes_ then, thank you for agreeing Bells."

I ran a hand through my ashy hair which was a lil' damp as the bits of snow stuck in them was melting. The skirt of the lilac dress I wore was a bit wet along with my denim jacket. But surprisingly, I didn't feel uncomfortable, at all.

From the looks of it, Bella was about to say something but Jessica interrupted her by pulling Bella's arm and snatching her attention from me. I was thankful for that since Bella was, without a doubt, wanting to decline. But I would persue her nonetheless.

"Hello? Bella, what do you want?" Jessica asked.

The said tomato casted her eyes down, blushing like mad. Oh, that's why Edward found it so freaking hard to resist her. I mean, dude, look at all that blood! Why wouldn't he be tempted?!

"What's with Bella?" Mike asked Jessica in a very worried tone. Yeah, Mike and Eric had their sights on Bella and apparently, were chasing after her attention. I was beyond relieved that I wasn't the victim for they didn't choose me.

I spoke up.

"Oh, she's just diagnosed with the disease called _shyness_. Don't worry, that's temporary. Fades with time and reappears without notice!" I said with a sweet smile and almost urgently heard my sister telling me to shut up and Mike and Jessica throwing me unpleasant looks.

I rolled my eyes at my sister's well- _freaking_ -wishers and turned my attention elsewhere till it was my turn to get food. Buying some sandwiches, a bag of sliced apples, a plain chocolate muffin and a soda, I gave the old grey haired lady a smile and paid for the food.

Like any other days, it was appealing, really, that I wanted to find some vacant table and dump myself there but remainder that I had to stick with Bella assaulted my senses, and so I went to where she was and sat down beside her, placing my tray down carefully.

The occupants of the table chorused a greeting together. I grinned when Samantha bumped her shoulder into mine from my other side.

Needless to say, Samantha was my comfort to endure this lunch.

"You can eat _all that_?" I heard her ask as she eyed my filled tray with bulging eyes.

"Yup!" I replied happily picking up the sandwich and starting to eat.

I was munching at my food when Jessica's sudden questioning provoked my interest.

"Bella, what are you staring at?" Jessica asked.

Still chewing on the bits of sandwich, I followed both, Jessica and Bella's stare at the Cullens, or more precisely, at Edward. And that very moment, Edward's eyes flashed over to meet mine, managing to freak me out a little. _Oh well, that was sudden..._

I scrunched my eyebrows at him and his illegal good looks. I was sure, though, in the instant our eyes met, that he didn't look harsh or unfriendly or deadly as he had the last time I'd seen him. He looked merely curious again, unsatisfied in some way. We continued looking at eachother, his unnerving stare sending an unwelcomed wave of chill down my spine.

 _He had that type of effect on me. Did he even realized that?_

"Edward Cullen is staring at _you_ ," Jessica giggled in Bella's ear being not-so-quiet which grabbed a hold of my attention. Smirking, I tried to conceal my laughter at Jessica's blatant un-obviousness and Bella's blush. But I couldn't help but snort.

"No, he isn't," Bella defended, turning to give _me_ a blank look before gazing down in instant, letting her hair mask her face.

"He _is_!" Jessica insisted, her eyes still on Edward like mine.

Were his freaking eyes actually superglued to me or what?!

I sighed softly and just to get a kick out of it, I let my lips curve up into an extremely _flirty_ and over the top smile as Edward continued looking at me, now almost tentatively. I even fluttered my eyelashes suggestively like the shameless person I _was_.

I watched carefully as his curious expression morphed into an amused one and snorted quietly before looking down at my food and once again, began devouring the whole thing.

"Bella!" The curly haired gossip queen whined when Bella remained unresponsive.

"He _doesn't_ look angry, does he?" Bella's small voice asked.

"No," Jessica said, sounding confused by the question. "Should he be?"

Uh, no, he doesn't get to be the angry one in this. I do, and so does Bella.

"I don't think he likes me."

I huffed. "Stop making goddamn assumptions. Who knows what goes in that mind of _his._ You don't, I don't and neither does anyone except for he himself."

To my surprise, Jessica agreed. "Yes, who knows _right_?" I finally looked at her to see the brunette's eyes still on the Cullens' table. "The Cullens don't like anybody... well, they don't notice anybody enough to like them. But he's still staring at you."

 _Wrong_... They do notice people. They just don't like the people with humongous mouth and mind full of crappy things.

"Stop looking at him," Bella hissed which made me grin.

Mike interrupted us then - he was planning an epic battle of the blizzard in the parking lot after school and wanted us to join. Jessica agreed enthusiastically. The way she looked at Mike left little doubt that she would be up for anything he suggested. Clearly, since she was _soo_ into him.

The rest of the classes passed smoothly. I got a free period which I spent in the library. My love for books had never died down, only extended with more time. I loved and enjoyed all kind of literatures. Ranging from classics to modern ones. And **Jane Eyre** successfully kept me entertained throughout the whole period and the tranquillity surrounding me was soothing.

When the school ended, I went to my locker to tuck in my gym uniform. Seeing the vacancy of my locker, I was abruptly reminded to bring some of my favourite books and stuff them here, so I could enjoy them in my spare time. Bella, like always, was already inside the truck with the heater on.

"And here comes the end of the school!" I spoke in a sing-a-song tone and spreaded my arms wide as my sister looked at me with amusement.

"Thank God." She sighed and started the engine. "Today had been... _eventful_."

Now that caught my attention. Bella sounded, dare I say, happy?

I mean what the-!

 _Oh_.

"Edward talked to you today?!" I inquired bluntly, already knowing the answer. Her behaviour didn't came as a surprise to me. Sometimes, it was just so difficult to act oblivious. "You sound happy."

"Oh." Was her reply after she suddenly frowned, all traces of happines vanishing from her face. Here is the entrance of our personal favourite detestable Bella!

 _What was I going to do with this bitch? Throwing her off a cliff wasn't even an option!_

I rolled my eyes and mumbled, almost to myself, my voice strangely a bit hoarse. "Thank god you stopped behaving like someone who just crawled from the lowest pit of hell like you have been these past days."

It was the first time I had mentioned about her mood withdrawals. Other times, I had just let her be, not voicing my worry, fearing that she would start putting up that fake happy pretense just for _my_ sake.

"Huh?" She tried to act ignorant as she stared ahead at the road but a tinge of blush graced her cheeks a little which gave me the hint that she knew what exactly I was talking about. Lousy liar. What was the point of lying to me?

I sighed, letting it slip. "Nothing. So, you talked with Edward today?"

"Yes, and he wasn't even rude like he was the last time we saw eachother," She answered, blushing. "Why are you even asking?"

I shrugged and slumped back further into my seat. "Mere curiousity and a feeling of nosiness. And did he apologize for last Monday?"

It was confirmed.

"Yes."

Almost abruptly, a wave of _envy_ surged through me as I suddenly found myself envious of Bella even if I didn't want to. But why? Was it because of the fact Edward apologized to Bella and not me? No, it can't be. It wasn't like I was expecting Edward to approach me out of nowhere and beg for my forgiveness.

No, no, no, I wasn't.

...

 _Yes, maybe I was._

...

What he did was wrong on so many levels okay, so it wasn't a very surprising thing that I was expecting at least a sincere ' _sorry'._

Sighing, I let my hand linger over my clothed arm mindlessly, wincing a bit when it came in contact with the fading bruise. Unfortunately, it still haven't erased completely like I hoped it would after this long amount of time. And that was a freaking reminder of what he did. Though I never deemed myself to be the one to hold grudges for long, somethings were great exception, like Edward Cullen.

"So..." I started and paused, realizing I didn't want to say what I was going to at the very moment.

"So?" Bella inquired. I told her another random thing then.

"I'll make the dinner today. And you should just suck it up and let me."

 _Ha! as if that would be enough to distract me from my own thoughts!_

* * *

 **A/N - Isn't it annoying to read Amberine shaming Bella for drooling over the Cullens and Edward whilst she does the same too? She's such a hypocrite. And a bit shallow too huh?**

 **And, about my late update, sorry... Life and School, combine them together and there you have your super omega bitch! Sorry, I had this chapter written about two months before from now but I kinda forgot my fanfiction password. My sister messed up everything. She's such an annoying twit and I love her for it!**

 **By the way, Thank You Everyone So Much aadhfjdnskkirh for liking, reviewing, following, favouriting and most of all, Reading this story! LOVE YA ALL AND SHITLOADS OF HUGS FOR YOU ALL! *KISSES***


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